Teaching a new generation about the Ice Age Trail

Monty, the Wooly Mammoth and Barb Converse, a volunteer with the Walworth/Jefferson County Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance, meet with a group of children and their parents June 11, to talk about the Ice Age Trail. Photo by Judy Wildermuth

Judy Wildermuth, a volunteer with the Walworth/Jefferson County Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance, performs an activity for a group of children and their parents at the Burlington Public Library June 11. The program examined the history of the Ice Age Trail. Photo by Barb Converse

Tuesday, July 1, 9:30 a.m, final float preparation for July 4 parade: Meet at Andy's and go out for lunch after. Contact: Barb Converse, 262-473-7304.

Friday, July 4, Whitewater Independence Day Parade: March with us – it is fun. Meet in front of Lincoln School on Prince Street at 9 a.m. Meet at Judy's afterward for potluck. Contact: Barb Converse, 262-473-7304.

Sunday, July 6, noon, First Annual Memorial Hike & Potluck in memory of June Wheeler, founder of the Walworth/Jefferson County Chapter, IATA: Bring a dish to pass to the Oleson Cabin. Bring your own beverage. Ice supplied. Eat and hike afterwards. Contact: Andy Whitney, 262-949-0286.

Wednesday July 9 – Sunday, July 13, IATU: Learn trail building skills. See www.iceagetrail.org for information and registration.

Wanted/needed: Volunteers with a love for the outdoors who would like to assist present adopters in maintaining sections of the Ice Age Trail in the Jefferson/Walworth Counties. We also need volunteers for once a month Saturday workdays. Please help spread the word to friends and businesses. If interested contact Bonnie at 262-495-3412 for details.

Weekly Walks: We meet each Tuesday at 4 p.m. and Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the U.S. Highway 12 Ice Age National Scenic Trail crossing, located about four miles east of Whitewater, about a quarter mile east of the intersection of Highway 12 with Sweno Road. The parking lot is at the west end of Sherwood Forest Rd which is a short road that intersects Highway 12 at each end. We include two or more walks of different distances on Wednesdays and also do this on Tuesdays when desired. All ages are welcome. Note that a current state park pass is required to park a car at the Highway 12 meeting place. A daily or yearly pass may be purchased at the meeting place provided correct change is available. Trail passes are available also so if you plan to cross country ski you should pick up one of these also. You may also purchase passes at the forest headquarters between Palmyra and Eagle on Wisconsin Highway 59. A park pass is not required to park at the forest headquarters.

Five of us walked around Lake LaGrange on a hot afternoon in the mid-80s last week Tuesday. It turned out to be a pleasant hike and I did not even have to use DEET for mosquitoes until we entered the woods after turning off the Ice Age Trail on the path back to Highway 12. Just a little spray on the back of neck and back kept the critters away.

Many birds serenaded us as we walked and we saw many plants budding. One was spiderwort, which is sprinkled throughout the prairie which in a few days should turn into beautiful blue blooms during the morning hours.

Six of us arrived during a rain storm last week Wednesday. There was some distant thunder so we debated whether or not we should hike. It looked like the sky to the west was lighter in color so decided that the rain may diminish. Along with confirmation from the radar on a mobile phone app we decided to go to the Nordic Trail to hike the two and a half mile orange trail.

This turned out to be just the right hike for this day. As we hiked the rain dissipated and I unzipped my rain gear for the remainder of the hike.

We stopped a while for a nice view over a kettle lake after a mile and a half into the hike. The outside of our shoes and pants cuffs got wet, but otherwise we were dry and I did not need mosquito protection although we were occasionally buzzed by flies.

Afterwards it was a trip to the LaGrange General Store for good food and friendly conversation.

Mammoth Hunt:

The hikes this week and the accompanying report were short and I did not take photos. However, on June 11 Barb Converse, Judy Wildermuth, and a couple other volunteers went to the Burlington Public Library to talk to 75 youngsters and their parents about the Ice Age Trail and the Ice Age. There they also conducted a Mammoth hunt to find Monty the wooly mammoth. Judy sent me some photos of the event so I am including a few with this report. Thank you Judy!

Everyone at the event appeared to have a great time although the number of participants was much larger than desirable. The Walworth/Jefferson County Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance holds several of these events throughout the year.